There’s a reason 2014 was the best year ever for North American travel to Israel: It isn’t a trip — it’s a spiritual experience. This surprising country promises a range of unique experiences which people of faith can only experience in Israel. And, thanks to several extremely traveler-friendly traits, it’s well within reach.

In a smaller, more technological world, we can’t afford to underestimate proactive, collaborative safety and risk management strategies. The Ebola crisis has all of us thinking differently, for the time being. Unfortunately, our sensitizing is hard to sustain with so much information hitting our radar screens.

The Orange River Challenge was the adventure of Brian Gray’s lifetime. The rafting excursion down South Africa’s longest river, in which Gray and his group of 17 encountered 90 kilometers of white water over the course of five days, was something he had never experienced before. In fact, before the 2005 trip Gray never hoped to, because he is a paraplegic. Even more amazing, Gray was not the only unique member of the group; it also contained five visually impaired members and a quadriplegic.